Dispenser for roll material



May 7, 1968 D. N. DE wosKlN DISPENSER FOR ROLL MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 8, 1966 2, "-4 INVENTOR DAVID NORMAN DEWOSKIN BY @uw MY im FIG. 4

ATTORNEY May 7, 196B D. N. DE wosKlN DISPENSER FOR ROLL MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sham il Filed Aug. s. 1966 Fica. T

INVENTOR DAW D Nom/MM DEWOSKIN ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,332,021 DISPENSER FOR RLL MATERIAL David Norman De Woskiu, St. Louis County, Mo., as-

signer to Continental Manufacturing Co., St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Aug. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 579,946 8 Claims. (Cl. 312--39) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLGSURE A dispenser for rolled material having a housing incorporating spaced-apart mounting plates with spool-guideways therein, said guideways having an upper vertical portion for receiving a first or reserve spool and a lower inclined portion for receiving a second or dispensing spool, which latter projects through an opening in said housing, a locking and releasing mechanism for operating pivotally mounted arms extending across the vertical portions of the guideways between spool-supporting position and spoolreleasing position and a pair of guide plates adapted for Vertical movement between spool-supporting and spool releasing position with respect to said second spool, a latch arm eccentrically and swingably mounted on at least one of the mounting plates for preventing unauthorized return travel ofthe second or dispensing spool.

This invention relates in general to dispensers and, more particularly, to a dispenser adapted for use with roll material, such as paper, fabrics, and the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispenser, of the type stated, for roll material, which is adapted to present a single roll for discharge of material therefrom and to retain at least one roll in reserve with means for preventing dispensing from said reserve roll until the rst-mentioned roll has been substantially depleted of material.

It is another object of the present inevntion to provide a dispenser of the type stated, which incorporates novel locking means for prohibiting removal of the dispensing roll until the material therefrom has been dispensed.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a dispenser of the type stated, incorporating means which, upon operation, will automatically present the erstwhile reserve roll -for dispensing after there has been a depletion of material from the previous dispensing roll.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a dispenser of the type stated, wherein only the dispensing roll is exposed, so that the reserve roll is protected against tampering or unauthorized handling.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a dispenser of the type stated Iwhich may be utilized with various types of roll material such as paper of all types, fabrics, and the like; which is uniquely constructed so as to be proof against breakdown and hence be amenable to usage in public places; which is readily operable for roll replenishing action; which is fabricated of durable materials for reliability and longevity in usage; and which may be economically manufactured.

Other objects and details of the invention will be apparent from the following description, when read in connection with the accompanying drawing (2 sheets), where 1n rice FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a dispenser constructed in accordance with an embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal transverse section taken on the line 2 2 of FIGURE l.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section taken on the 3 3 of FIGURE l, showing the reserve roll in reserve position.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4 4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken substantially on the line 3 3 of FIGURE 1, illustrating the reserve roll descending toward dispensing position, and the erstwhile dispensing roll commencing descent from operative position.

FIGURE 6 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 3 3 of FIGURE 1, illustrating the reserve roll approaching dispensing position, and the erstwhile dispensing roll being received in the lower portion of the housing.

FIGURE 7 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 3 3 of FIGURE 1, showing the erstwhile reserve roll locked in dispensing position.

Referring now by reference characters to the drawings which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the present invention, A designates a dispenser adapted for use with roll materials, such as, for instance, tissue paper and various other types of paper, fabrics, and the like, which dispenser comprises a housing lz, having parallel side walls, 1, 1', a bottom wall 2, a top wall 3, and a rear wall 4. Said housing h, which is open to the front, is provided with a front closure 5, having side flanges 6, 6', in respective alignment with housing side walls 1, 1', a top, normally horizontal ange '7 for alignment with top wall 3, and a lower, inwardly and downwardly inclined flange 8, which is engaged to the forward edge of housing bottom wall 2 by means of a hinge pin 9, so that said front closure 5 is swingable about the axis of hinge pin 9 from downward open position, allowing access to the interior of housing h, to upward closed condition (see FIGURE 3). Housing top Wall 3 and top flange 7 of front closure 5 are provided with co-operating locking means as indicated generally at 10 for maintaining housing h in' reliable closed condition.

Fixed, as by riverting, on the inner face of each side flange 6, 6' of front closure 5, is the vforward portion 11, 11' of side plates 12, 12', respectively, which extend rearwardly within housing h and with the rearward margins thereof terminating spacedly forwardly of rear lwall 4. Said side plates 12, 12 are carried by front closure 5. Immediately rearwardly of forward portions 11, 11 of side plates 12, 12', said latter are formed, as by stamping, to provide an inwardly and rearwardlyinclined portion as indicated at 13, 13', respectively. Said side plates 12, 12' at the rearward ends of said inclined portions 13, 13' continue to their rearward margins in planar parallel relationship to the adjacent side walls, 1, 1', being located inwardly of said forward portions 11, 11'. Each of said side plates 12, 12' is cut away in its normally upper and lower rearward corner portions for housing clearance purposes, and with zones adjacent thereto being bent outwardly at an angle of less than to the plane of said side plates 12, 12', to form flanges 14, 14'.

The upwardly, out-turned liange 14 of each side plate 12, 12' is provided substantially centrally with an opening 15 which latter is continuous with the upper vertically eX- tending section 16 of a guideway or slot 17, formed in Patented May 7, 1968 each of said plates 12, 12 and having at its lower end spacedly above lower ilange 14 a lower section 18, which inclines downwardly and forwardly for termination proximate the forward margin of the related plate (see FIG- URE 3). The lower section 18 of each guideway 17 continues through the adjacent inclined portion 13, 13 of the associated plate 12, 12 whereby the end extremity of each section 18 is located in forward portions 11, 11 of said plates, laterally outwardly of those portions of said sections 18, which are presented rearwardly of the plate inclined portions 13, 13' (see FIGURES 2 and 3). Opening and guideway 17 are of such transverse extent as for accommodating the trunnion-like supports 19 of a rigid spool 20 which may have radially extending flanges 2d', for carrying a roll 21 of flexible sheet material, such as, for instance, tissue paper, and the like; said guideway 17 dening a passage for movement therealong of said spool or spools 20. The rearward margin of guideway 17 is provided with a ange 22 turned outwardly from the plane of the respective plate 12, 12 in normal relationship thereto for presenting a lateral bearing for supports 19 as spools 20 travel along said guideway 17 for reasons to be discussed hereinbelow.

With reference being made to FIGURES 1 and 3, it will be seen that the lower end extremities of guideways 17 are located spacedly upwardly of bottom wall 2, so that appropriate clearance is provided for full roll 21 carried upon the spool located at such lower end. Front closure 5 is provided in its lower portion with an enlarged opening 23 which extends both above and below the lower end of guideway 17 so as to permit the extension therethrough of the roll 21 carried upon a spool 20 disposed at the lower end of said guideway 17, as indicated in FIGURE 7. Opening 23 is dimensioned so as to permit ready access to the material constituting the roll 21 located adjacent thereto, such as, for instance, a roll of toilet tissue.

Said dispenser A is provided with a unitary roll locking and releasing mechanism, designated generally L, which is carried, by means to be described, upon front closure 5, and comprises an elongated operating arm 24, the upper end of which passes freely through an opening 25 formed in top ange 7 of front closure 5, and on its upper projecting end carries a handle or control knob 26. Said arm 24 passes slideably through a guide member 27, xed on the inner face of front closure 5 beneath top flange 7, and extends when in lowered position to a point immediately above opening 23 with such lower end being suitably affixed to a horizontally extending member 28, which latter terminates at its end edges immediately inwardly of plates 12, 12', and is provided with rearwardly extending flanges 28 by which it is affixed, as by welding, to the upper ends of narrow, elongated guide plates 29, which are planarwise parallel to side anges 6, 6' of front closure 5, being presented inwardly thereof. Said guide plates 29 are of substantially the same transverse extent as forward portions, 11, 11 of plates 12, 12', and are provided with narrow, vertically extending slots 30 for relative movement therein of the stems of pins 31 iixed in the adjacent portions of side plates 12, 12'; the length of said slots 30 determining the extent of vertical travel of said guide plates 29 for purposes to be described hereinbelow.

The said guide plates 29, in their lower forward portions, are continuous with a narrow planar parallel extension 32 and are interengaged at their lower ends by a transversely extending web 33; said web being provided on its rearward margin with a ange 34 which extends rearwardly and downwardly at an angle of less than 90. It will be seen that flange 34 extends transversely across housing h and serves as a detent to prevent premature operation of locking and releasing mechanism L, for purposes to be set forth below.

Upwardly of member 28, operating arm 24 mounts an eyelet 35 through which freely passes the transverse portion 36 of a U-shaped locking member 37, having at its ends rearwardly extending legs 33; th@ transverse eXtCnt of said portion 35 being greater than that of member 28, so that said legs 38 are presented for projection through apertures 39 formed within plate inclined portions 13, 13 so as to present the rearward portions of said legs 38 outwardly of plates 12, 12' between same and the adjacent side walls 1, 1 of housing h. Said legs 38 are of such longitudinal extent as to present their rearward end extremities adjacent guideway 17, near its upper end for supportedly engaging the trunnion-like supports 19 of the adjacent spool 20 projecting laterally outwardly of said guideways 17. Each of said legs 38 is swingably mounted between its rearward end and the adjacent opening 39 by means of a pivot 48 iixed on the adjacent side plate 12, 12.

It will be seen that the said locking and releasing mechanism L is adapted for vertical reciprocal movement between lowered, roll-locking position, as shown in FIG- URES 3 and 7, and upward, roll-releasing position, as indicated in FIGURE 5. By the simple expedient of appropriate pulling upwardly or pushing downwardly on knob 26, may the desired operation of said mechanism L be effected.

Each of said guide plates 29, in their lower, rearward portion, adjacent the upper end of extensions 32, is pro- -vided with an upwardly and forwardly inclined clearance surface 41 for purposes to be shown below. On the outer face of each side plate 12, 12 beneath related guideway 17 and proximate the midpoint of the lower section 18 thereof, there is eccentrically mounted, as by pin 42, a latch arm 43; said mounting 42 being proximate its forward end, so that its rearward portion would be biased by gravity into downward position, but with such downward swinging of the rearward portion being limited by contact thereof with the adjacent ange 14 (See FIGURE 3). The forward upper portion, as indicated at 44, of said latch arm 43 will extend above the lower margin of guideway 17 for presenting an obstacle to movement of spool 20 therealong.

It will be seen that a spool 2d travelling downwardly and forwardly in lower section 18 will engage the forward upper portion 44 of latch arm 43, and cause the latter to rock downwardly and forwardly about its pivot 42, allowing the particular spool 28 to continue its travel (see FIG- URE 6). Upon passage of the roll beyond said latch arm 43, the latter will be returned to latching or detaining position, as shown in FIGURE 3, so as to effectively and reliably prevent any unauthorized return movement of such spool 20 along guideway 17. By the said latch arms 43, the roll at the lower end of guideway 17, which is in dispensing position, may not be tampered with or dislodged unauthorizedly from such position.

The operation of dispenser A may be best understood by reference to FIGURES 3, 5, 6, and 7, which illustrate sequential states in such operation. In FIGURE 3, locking and releasing mechanism L is in lowered position, with knob 26 closely adjacent the upper face of flange 7, and in which condition the said legs 38 of locking member 37 are positioned for maintaining a spool 20, carrying a full roll 21 of material to be dispensed. It will be seen that such roll 21 is maintained proximate the upper end of guideway 17 and the upper portion of housing h behind front closure S, as to be in reserve position, fully obscured from view and removed from facile access. A spool 20 is also located at the lower end of section 18 of guideway 17 and is in dispensing position, so that material constituting the roll thereof may project through opening 23.

It will be noted, with reference to FIGURE 3, that the trunnion-like supports 19 of said lower spool 20 abut against the rearward edges of guide plates 29, so that forward movement is inhibited, and prevented against rearward movement by latch arm 43. In order to remove the now empty spool 20 at the lower end of guideway 17, and to position the reserve roll 21 for dispensing, the user will pull upwardly on operating arm 24 and since detent flange 34 will meet with no obstacle in view of the depletion of the material on the lower spool 20, the said locking and releasing mechanism L may be pulled upwardly so as to present clearance surface 41 upwardly of supports 19 of said lower spool, whereby the latter is free to move downwardly toward the lower extremities of guideway 17 (see FIGURE 5), which extremities, being located in the portion of said side plates 12, 12', laterally outwardly, and are separated by a distance greater than the transverse eX- tent of said spool 20, permit the latter to drop downwardly and freely within housing h.

Simultaneously with such movement of the lower spool 20, it will be seen that locking member 37 has been pivoted downwardly and forwardly, so as to remove its legs 38 from disposition adjacent guideway 17, thereby losing engagement with supports 19 of spool 20, carrying the reserve roll 21, so that said latter is free to move through gravity along said guideway 17 toward dispensing position (FIGURE 5 As the latter roll 21 commences its travel downwardly, the user Iwill then depress operating arm 24, so as to return same to lowered condition, and thereby remove detent flange 34- from movement-impeding relationship with respect to such descending roll 21 (see FIGURE 6). Said reserve roll 21 will continue its travel rocking latch arm 43 from its path (FIGURE 6) and with its downward travel being terminated by abutment of its trunnion-like supports 19 against the rearward margins of guide plates 29 (FIGURE 7), wherein its material for dispensing will project outwardly through opening 23.

The erstwhile dispensing spool 20 will have been received upon bottom wall 2 of housing h and moved rearwardly therealong by contact with said erstwhile reserve roll 21, into a collected position at the rearward end of housing h (FIGURES 6 and 7). As indicated above, the said locking and releasing mechanism may not be prematurely operated by reason of the fact that upon upward movement of operating arm 24, prior to complete depletion of material constituting the dispensing roll 21, the said detent flange 34 will abut such material and thereby prevent further upward action of operating arm 24. Only when there has been depletion of such dispensing roll 21 is the spatial relationship between detent flange 34, and the now empty roll or spool 20 such that clearance surface 41 will be presented for automatically removing the now empty spool 20 from dispensing position.

There may be also provided with dispenser A means for preventing inadvertent, premature rotation of the spool carrying the reserve roll of material so that the latter would not accidentally become interengaged with the material on the dispensing spool and thereby bring about undesired interference impeding smooth operation. To effect such result, there is provided on the rearwardly directed face of operating arm 24, upwardly of eyelet 35 a nut 50 in which is engaged the threaded stem of a screw 51 which projects rearwardly for abutting at its outer end against the reserve roll to thereby frictionally prevent rotation. Said screw 51 serves as a brake or detent for effectively preventing undesired unwinding of material on the reserve roll.

From the foregoing, it will be readily seen that the dispenser of the present invention is a most compact device, having a marked simplicity of parts to assure reliable operation and one which will securely protect a reserve roll against tampering. Furthermore, the unique locking and releasing mechanism assures that the reserve roll will not be presented for dispensing until the previous dispensing roll has been fully depleted thereby assuring of economical usage at all times.

It should be understood that changes and modifications in the formation, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the dispenser may be made and substituted for these herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to obtain by Letters Patent is:

1. A dispenser for rolled material carried upon spools comprising means defining a housing for first and second spools, said housing having an opening in the lower portion thereof for projecting therethrough of roll material to be dispensed from said second spool, a pair of transversely aligned spaced-apart mounting plates provided within said housing on opposite sides of said opening and extending thereabove, each of said mounting plates having aligned spool-guideways therein, each of said guideways having an upper vertical portion presented rearwardly of said opening and extending thereabove and a lower forwardly and downwardly inclined portion continuous with said upper vertical portion and terminating proximate said opening, a spool-locking and release mechanism provided in said housing` and comprising a pair of arms pivotally mounted between their ends on each of said mounting plates in the upper portion thereof, each of said arms having a rearward portion for extension across the vertical portion of the related spool guideway for supporting said iirst spool, and a pair of guide plates presented on opposite sides of said opening for extension across the lower end of the lower inclined portion of the proximate guideway for abutment on their rearward edges of the second spool for maintaining same in dispensing position, a vertical slideable member provided in said housing and being engaged to each of said arms and each of said guide plates whereby upon upward movement of said member, said arms are pivoted to remove their rearward ends from extension across said guideway to free the first spool for descent along said guideway and to elevate said guide plate for removing same from extension across the related spool guideway to allow descent of said second spool, and a latch arm eccentrically swingably mounted on at least one of'said mounting plates, detent means for restricting the angle of swing of said latch arm in one direction of swing so as to present the forward portion thereof across the adjacent guideway to prevent unauthorized return movement of said second spool rearwardly along said guideway.

2. A dispenser for rolled material carried upon spools as defined in claim 1 and further characterized by an elongated member interconnecting the said arms at their forward end, a cross member interconnecting said guide plates upwardly of said opening, and said vertically slideable member being engaged to said elongated member and said cross member, and means exterior of said housing for operating said vertical slideable member.

3. A dispenser for rolled material carried upon spools as defined in claim 2 and further characterized by directing means for restraining said guide plates in vertical paths of movement, each of said guide plates being cutaway in their lower rearward portion for alignment with the related spool guideway upon upward movement of said vertically slideable member for allowing descent of said second spool.

4. A dispenser for rolled material carried upon spools as defined in claim 3 and further characterized by means for preventing operation of said vertically slideable member for releasing of said first and second spools until the rolled material upon said second spool is exhausted.

5. A dispenser for rolled material carried upon spools as defined in claim 4 and further characterized by said means for preventing operation of said vertically slideable member comprising a stop ange carried on the lower end of at least one of said guide plates.

6. A dispenser for rolled material carried upon spools as defined in claim 1 and further characterized by said latch arm being eccentrically swingably mounted proximate its forward end portion to one of said mounting plates adjacent the lower inclined portion of the related spool-guideway for urging of its rearward end into clockwise direction, a stop flange provided on said mounting plate for engaging the rearward end of said latch arm for limiting the clock-wise swinging thereof, said latch arm being of such extent that when its rearward end is engaged by said stop iiange, its forward end will project across the proximate portion of the adjacent spool-guideway for preventing unauthorized upward return travel of said second spool, said latch arm by its said mounting being swingable counterclockwise through engagement with said rst spool upon descent thereof so as to allow same to move into dispensing position.

7. A dispenser for rolled material carried upon spools as dened in claim 5 and further characterized by a latch arm being mounted on each of said mounting plates.

8. A dispenser for rolled material carried upon spools as dened in claim 6 and further characterized by the distance between the forward edge of said latch arm and the rearward edge of the proximate guide plate being substantially equivalent to the cross section of the second spool for stabilization of the same therebetween for facile dispensing ofthe rolled material thereon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Britt et al 24255.3

Page et al 312-39 Borton 242-553 McCants 312-39 X Jacomaro 242-553 Nehring 312-39 Roemer 312--39 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner.

I. L. KOHNEN, Assistant Examiner. 

